Opinion: Kneecapping the NSA

UC Berkeley law professor John Yoo on news that the president plans to extend privacy protections to foreigners, among other changes. Photo: Getty Images

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... I ... welcome to Opinion Journal why Mary Kissel ... the Obama is going to announce some changes to our NSA all these changes purely political and while they help or hinder our national security ... I've that UC Berkeley law professor John Yoo also formally of the Bush administration ... here to talk ... about it John ... ECL sink broken doesn't need to be fixed ... I don't think so I think this is ... an example of a solution looking for a problem or am are ... looking for a nail but this is the ... case where after all the studies and leaks ... and investigations no one has actually turned up any sample with the NSA abused its powers ... in the way we saw President Nixon in the past or even some that people under President Clinton hasn't been example where people them politically persecuted ... or the government has these information collected by the NSA ... to retaliate against people had just been a pretty factory did they ... let let's talk about one of the big initiatives the president is going to announce privacy protection for foreigners ... does in no country do this and should we ... the most incredible parts of the potential proposals that were Tennessee from present Obama ... extending the privacy Act ... to foreigners ... as he says he suggested other countries don't extend Americans the right ... of privacy concerns on governance in the Constitution ... and our laws don't require that ... either ... effect the whole idea that is that it shows that this ministrations issue more worried ... about the rights ... of foreigners and a potential terror suspects it is about Americans' privacy act when the support thinks its a gives the right ... of Americans to find out what information is held about them by the government ... imagine what that would do in the hands of potential terrorists ... a new little out ... of ... it Mr. Dell's out here Etihad about catered to write in a letter to the government under the privacy act ... and and see a copy of all the records has ... been ... no it's incredible ... I let let's talk about Mehta data collection this is Ben ... one of the biggest issues in terms of the NSA to be ... either present it is is reportedly going to keep the program ... of the perhaps as private companies to keep that day and have the NSA ask for it ... is that a good middle ground ... so what one thing it will do so sure and I don't think anyone speaks to students slow down the government to make it harder to cleft information make it harder to call a ... information ... that everyone's our rating given up ... to private companies already ... there is no constitutional right over this information ... once spring Court has said in a case called Smith vs Maryland which we've discussed before ... once we send information on billing records ... and so on ... we've lost our constitutional ... she writes about it ... why it ... was our privacy enhanced ... by make it harder for the government to search for terrorists when ... he's ready giving information to Verizon and if ... it is a good question it's a very good question we got about thirty seconds left what about the idea of having a public advocate ... involved in these NSA courts to review the surveillance requests ... this includes shows the administration ... giving more rights to force in this case that giving more rights ... to foreigners for terror suspects than Americans ... when the government gets warrants for normal criminal cases ... we don't have a right to appear more intelligent in this case the government wants to give a free government lawyer to every suspected terrorists in American courts slam it would be funny if it weren't so serious ... UC Berkeley law professor